Retail Clinics

PHILADELPHIA Drug advertisements that tie disease risks with family history can influence consumers' choice of medications and have a beneficial effect on those consumers' lifestyle choices, according to a study published in the August issue of the Journal of Applied Communication Research.

NORTH WALES, Pa. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries has introduced a generic drug for lowering patients’ blood pressure, the world’s largest manufacturer of generic drugs said Monday.

Teva introduced clonidine transdermal system, a generic version of Boehringer Ingelheim’s Catapres-TTS. The drug is available in 0.1 mg, 0.2 mg and 0.3 mg strengths and comes in the form of a patch designed for daily application.

The drug has annual sales of around $297 million, according to IMS Health.

ATLANTA A recent survey out of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that adolescent vaccination at the national, state and selected local area levels are all on the rise.

Continued increases — as much as 15% — were made in nationwide coverage for vaccines specifically recommended for pre-teens, according to 2009 National Immunization Survey-Teen estimates released Thursday by the CDC.

WASHINGTON Nearly 1-in-5 hospitalizations in 2008 were related to diabetes, according to a recent report by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

That means a total of more than 7.7 million hospital stays and $83 million in hospital costs, of which Medicare covered 60%, the report found. On average, diabetes patients paid $10,937 for hospitalization, while those without the disease paid $8,746.

TORONTO It seems that women that make less money than their counterparts are more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes, Canadian researchers found in a new study.

PRINCETON, N.J. Novo Nordisk's website AskScreenKnow.com features new interactive enhancements, offering additional information and resources on diabetes.

AskScreenKnow.com visitors now can get involved through various interactive features on the site, including:

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. The Convenient Care Association and SMARTcare have teamed up to provide CCA member clinicians with a counseling tool to educate patients about how to manage illnesses and conditions, SMARTcare announced.

The SMARTcare counseling tool provides convenient care operators and clinicians with a database of education on managing common illnesses and conditions, and a reference guide to over-the-counter medications to treat symptoms.

NEW YORK The global market for vaccines grew to more than $20 billion last year, according to a report by healthcare market research firm Kalorama Information.

The New York-based firm’s report, “Vaccines 2010: World Market Analysis, Key Players and Critical Trends in a Fast-Changing Industry,” indicated that the world market for preventative vaccines was $22.1 billion in 2009, compared with $19 billion in 2008.